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Late pioneering Butler Township dairy farmer honored at fair

By MARY ANN GREIER 5 min read

LISBON -- Herb Stryffeler didn't just farm the land -- he embraced new technology for milking, got excited about the soil and freely shared what he learned with others.

His children described him as a helper, a hard worker and a pioneer, traveling all over to install and service milking systems for other farmers.

For those qualities and contributions during a lifetime in agriculture, the late Herbert L. Stryffeler of Butler Township was enshrined Tuesday morning in the Columbiana County Agriculture Hall of Fame.

"He really enjoyed doing what he was doing," his son Joe said.

Many of the family members he mentored in farming and in life showed their love for their dad, grandfather and great-grandfather by gathering together for the enshrinement ceremony held in the Arts & Crafts Building at the Columbiana County Fair, posing for a photo with his framed portrait and biographical sketch.

That photo and biography chronicling his life's work will be permanently displayed with the previous inductees on the wall in the Arts & Crafts Building.

During the ceremony, Don Humphrey read the biography and said "a worthy inductee indeed."

He kicked off the ceremony by explaining the Hall of Fame is a joint effort of the Columbiana County Historical Society, the Columbiana County Agricultural Society and the Columbiana County Farm Bureau, one of the finest events he said they do at the fair, honoring great representatives of Columbiana County.

Owen Hoopes, a young man from Malvern, played a song on his violin to entertain the attendees.

Herbert L. Stryffeler lived from 1927 to 1997 and his biography noted he bought his first 55-acre farm in Butler Township inches early 20s, later buying additional farms, including the family farm on Tower Road. The farms all became known as Stryffeler Family Farms covering 250 acres. He started out with a small dairy herd of 20 to 25 cows and helped his father, Harvey Stryffeler, and brother John farm the Tower Road farm. His mother was Margaret Stryffeler.

In 1949, he married Nellie Martig and together they worked the farm and raised four children, Susan Hedl and Joe, Don and Jill Stryffeler, resulting in a dozen grandchildren and lots of great-grandchildren. The grandchildren include Dr. Jamie Toalston, Jinelle Crosser, David Z. Stryffeler, the late Lee Toalston, Sean Heim, Cristina Bach, Sara Lindimen, Ben Stryffeler, Maggie Witmer, Ellen McCaskey, Justin Stryffeler and Jeffrey Stryffeler.

After Herb suffered an injury in a farming accident in 1960, his family and friends maintained the farm until he recovered, then he decided to combine milking herds with his father and brother. His interest in farming technology led to him becoming a Bou-Matic dealer, working with W.G. Dairy, and establishing Stryffeler Dairy Service, installing and serving milking systems.

He installed one of the first pipeline systems to milk his herd of Holsteins and converted other dairy farms from buckets to pipelines and bulk tanks. He also worked with crop technology and soil science.

But the one trait that everyone mentioned was how much he helped others.

"Dad was a farmer first, but also very much a helper to others. He loved the new technology, new milking systems. He was interested in soil content," daughter Susan said.

She recalled her mom and dad went on a vacation and when she asked about their trip, "Dad would talk about what the soil was like."

He was often helping others, including with their dairy equipment. She recalled when she was 10 years old traveling with him to Wisconsin to get a bulk tank for someone.

"He instructed his children in all facets of life," she said.

Herb's sister, Carolyn Stryffeler, said he was 15 years older than her, but she has a lot of memories from when she was growing up with her big brother. He just had a need to help others.

"I think this is a great honor. I'm pleased he's being recognized for what he did," Carolyn said.

His son Joe, a retired farmer, said the honor was long overdue, calling him a pioneer regarding milking systems and said he loved doing the service work for people, loved talking to the customers. He didn't care if it was Tuesday or Sunday, he was there.

His son Don, who's also a retired farmer, said his dad traveled all around doing that work.

His daughter, Jill, who has a farm outside Lisbon, said on her parents' farm, "we were all recruited to work, all family members."

Susan remembered her father leaving lists of work for them to do and one night she had a date and she was dressed up and so was her fella, but she told him they had some work to do first.

She said the grandchildren all learned a lot from working with their grandfather.

Humphrey announced at the end of the ceremony that many people over the years have contributed to the success of agriculture in the county and the organizers of the Hall of Fame want to know who they are. They could be from many, many years ago or more recent, but families can fill out a form from the fair website to nominate someone. Visit columbianacountyfair.com and look under Ag Society for Hall of Fame. The nominee must have contributed to the field of agriculture and been a member of the agriculture community and a community leader. All awards are present posthumously.

Columbiana County Fair Board President John Wolf remembered Herb and said, "We welcome him to the Hall of Fame. Well deserved honor for him and his family."

"We're excited to start the fair on a grand note and looking forward to a great county fair," he said, adding "the weather's holding out for us well. We had a sizable crowd last night for opening day."

The fair continues through Sunday at the fairgrounds in Lisbon.

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